Tag: Ragan Smith

MG Elite Battles it Out for Junior Gold at the the 2015 P&G National Championships

Published on by Stacie Fletcher1 Comment

Laurie Hernandez of MG Elite finally took her own junior national title, defeating defending national champion and teammate Jazmyn Foberg by one tenth. She scored a two day-total of 117.50 for the gold. Foberg put up an incredible fight, with her strongest all-around showing yet, scoring a 117.40. Ragan Smith of Texas Dreams wowed the crowd on floor and beam, taking bronze with a 116.45.

The juniors entered into day two with Jazmyn Foberg of MG Elite the surprise leader in a bid to defend her national title with a 58.35. She held the lead over teammate Laurie Hernandez who trailed by six tenths. Ragan Smith of Texas Dreams followed by five tenths in third.

In the first rotation, Foberg led off on vault with her strongest vault yet, a double twisting yurchenko that rivals any of the seniors, scoring a 15.2.  Hernandez followed up with a strong vault of her own, scoring just below her with a 15.1. Smith started on beam, where she delivered a rock solid beam routine worthy of a senior world team finals, scoring a 15.2. Aloyna Shchennikova scored a 14.35 on bars. The three leaders continued to distance themselves from the rest of the field in this rotation, but the order remained the same.

Smith was the highlight of rotation two, bringing down the house with her floor routine that is so full of personality, charm and sky high tumbling to earn a 14.65. Hernandez did her best bar routine yet, stuck landing and all for a huge score of 15.2. Foberg answered with a huge bar routine of her own, scoring a 14.65. However, it was not enough to stay in the lead, as Hernandez pulled into the lead by half a tenth!

Rotation three began with Jordan Chiles on floor, who put together a strong routine after a rough go on beam in rotation two. Christina Desiderio did a beautiful beam routine. While neither was able to break their way into the top three, they solidly held their places in fourth and fifth. Foberg was up first of the top three. She had a super solid go on beam, earning a sky high 9.0 escore and a 14.7. Smith put up a tight, clean vault for a 14.9. Hernandez answered with a 9.0 escore of her own and a 14.7, staying in the lead.

The last rotation in an eight rotation battle for gold begins with Foberg on floor. She tumbled more cleanly than ever before, but went out of bounds twice. Still, she improved her score from night one by three tenths for a 14.5. Smith did an excellent bar routine with a stuck landing to cap off her amazing competition and a 14.3. Hernandez needed to improve her night one score by one tenth to tie. She answered the challenge with a 14.55 to take the National Title. Chiles ended the night with a solid vault and in fourth.

The individual events had a few others make their way into the top three. Jordan Chiles won vault and Emily Gaskins took the bronze. Alyona Shchennikova took the bronze on bars and Christina Desiderio took the bronze on floor. The top three all-arounders took all the other medals. Results below with full results on pgchamps.com.

Laurie Hernandez, Jazmyn Foberg, Ragan Smith, Jordan Chiles, Christina Desiderio, and Sydney Johnson-Scharpf are the new Junior National Team as the top six finishers. Others may be added in the future.

What an epic way to end these three epic junior careers. They are all three eligible for the Rio Olympics next year and definitely made their mark today.

Watch the entire competition, it’s totally worth it!

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Photo by John Cheng

Secret US Classics Junior Results and Recap

Published on by Stacie FletcherLeave a comment

The arena was ablaze with sparkling leotards as the juniors took the stage at the Secret US Classics. After an exciting competition, Lauren Hernandez of MG Elite topped the podium with a 58.45. Ragan Smith of Texas Dreams won the silver with a 57.70, while reigning national junior champion Jazzy Foberg of MG Elite followed behind her for the bronze with a 57.40. Hernandez led the entire meet, while Smith built up her scores with consistency and topped it off with a fantastic floor routine to take the silver. Foberg was also strong throughout the meet, however stumbles on her floor landings kept her just out of reach of the silver.

Rotation One

Jordan Chiles went for her new amanar vault, the only junior attempting this difficult skill, but touched her hand down to prevent herself from falling backward. She ended the rotation in third with a 14.6. Ragan Smith also started on vault, scoring a 14.7 with a clean double twisting yurchenko. Grace Quinn tied her for second in the first rotation with a beautiful double twisting yurchenko of her own.

Hernandez started on bars as did reigning national champion Foberg.  Foberg was up first, and floated through her 6.0 bar routine for a 14.1. But Hernandez stole the show with her high flying releases and stuck landing for a 15.0, leading after the first rotation.

Rotation Two

Laurie Hernandez on beam during podium training at the Secret US Classics. Photo by Christy Linder Sharp

Jordan Chiles did a beautiful bar routine, but did not match Hernandez’s difficulty on bars and ended up with a 14.1. Foberg got through beam with just a few small wobbles, hitting her skills nicely for a huge 14.65, the highest score on beam to this point. Hernandez got up next, performing with her usual style and attack but had a large step back on her landing, leaving her with a 14.2. The rotation ended with Hernandez in the lead with a 29.2, Foberg in second 28.75 followed closely by Chiles with a 28.7.

Rotation Three

Ragan Smith in podium training. Photo by Christy Linder Sharp.

Chiles performed a beautiful beam routine, but fell on her back tuck. She finished the routine strong, but a 13.6 was low enough to just knock her off the podium at the end of the rotation. Foberg competed some impressive tumbling in her floor routine, opening with a full twisting double layout and a tuck double double for her second pass. She has some rough landings, and earned a 13.85, which was not quite enough to keep her in the top three. Christine Desiderio steped into the top three with the highest floor score of the meet at this point, earning a 14.85. Smith competed three solid routines in a row, and her consistency plus her incredible beam routine including a standing piked full earned her a 14.1 on beam moved her up in the standings. Hernandez wowed the crowd with her incredible floor performance, and was nearly flawless until her last pass when she stumbled back a bit and went out of bounds. However, a 14.35 kept her well in the lead. At the end of rotation three, Hernandez led with a 43.55. Ragan Smith moved into second with a 42.70. Desiderio was followed with a 42.65. Foberg and Chiles fell to fourth and fifth.

Rotation Four

Foberg and Hernandez side by side through it all. Photo by Christy Linder Sharp.

Only four tenths separated second through fifth places heading into the last rotation, and the competition was tight. Foberg and Hernandez were on vault, usually highest scoring event. Smith and Chiles were on floor and Desiderio was on bars. Foberg led off with a high double twisting yurchenko for a 14.8. Hernandez did a clean double twisting yurchenko with a small hop, earning a a 14.9,the highest vault score in the meet and enough to keep her solidly in the lead. Ragan Smith took the floor with her charming and charismatic routine, opening with a sky high double layout, a one and a half stepout through to a triple twist, a double arabian and a stuck double pike. She scored the highest floor score of the meet, a whopping 15.0, which kept her in second place. Desiderio fell on bars, knocking her off the podium. Chiles finished up the meet on floor where she fell on her opening pass. She finished up well, but three falls in one meet kept her from the podium.

Full Results at SecretClassic.com. Top scores in the all-around and each event are below.

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U.S. Junior National Champions and National Team

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Jazmyn Foberg of MG Elite blast on to the junior scene by winning the Junior National All-Around title in her first year competing at the national championships. Consistency and calm were the key, as Foberg hit routine after routine over the two day competition. Eight for eight is the mantra every gymnast repeats, but Foberg was the only junior gymnast on the podium able to actually do it. Foberg also took  top honors on uneven bars, her favorite event.

Nia Dennis managed to grab the silver medal despite two falls on her first day of competition and a fall on the second day. Dennis came into the meet as the favorite to win. She brings the most difficulty, and has been the highest scoring junior of those competing at nationals in earlier international competitions this year. However, it seems that she just succumbed to nerves this go round.

Norah Flatley rounded out the podium with the bronze medal. Flatley, who could easily compete in a senior level world championship beam final right now shocked everyone with a fall on beam BOTH days. However, he was still able to find a spot on the podium with her beautiful, clean gymnastics.

Jordan Chiles came in most recently winning the 2014 Secret U.S. Classics two weeks ago. She had an incredibly rough first day, but was able to come back the second day and put in a great performance. As she still has a lot of time left in her gymnastics career, the experience of coming back and performing well is a great thing.

The top six gymnasts automatically qualified to the junior national team. Bailie Key was injured and did not compete at nationals, but was added to the team as well due to her phenomenal success over the past year. As three of the seven will be seniors next year, it is likely that more juniors will be added at a later time.

U.S. Junior Women’s National Team

Jordan Chiles, Vancouver, Wash./Naydenov Gymnastics, Nia Dennis, Westerville, Ohio/Buckeye Gymnastics, Norah Flatley, Cumming, Iowa/Chow’s Gymnastics, Jazmyn Foberg, Morganville, N.J./MG Elite, Emily Gaskins, Fairfield, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics, Bailie Key, Montgomery, Texas/Texas Dreams, and Alexis Vasquez, West Des Moines, Iowa/Chow’s Gymnastics.

All-around results and even medalists are as follows:

All-Around

  1. Jazmyn Foberg, Bayville, N.J., 114.950
  2. Nia Dennis, Westerville, Ohio, 114.500
  3. Norah Flatley, Cumming, Iowa, 112.550
  4. Jordan Chiles, Vancouver, Wash., 111.600
  5. Alexis Vasquez, West Des Moines, Iowa, 111.150
  6. Emily Gaskins, Coral Springs, Fla., 110.800

Vault

  1. Nia Dennis, Westerville, Ohio, 30.000
  2. Olivia Trautman, Champlin, Minn., 29.700
  3. Jordan Chiles, Vancouver, Wash., 29.650

Uneven Bars

  1. Jazmyn Foberg, Bayville, N.J., 28.850
  2. Norah Flatley, Cumming, Iowa, 28.400
  3. Nia Dennis, Westerville, Ohio, 28.150

Balance Beam

  1. Alexis Vasquez, West Des Moines, Iowa, 29.400
  2. Ragan Smith, Lewisville, Texas, 29.000
  3. Lauren Navarro, La Verne, Calif., 28.700

Floor Exercise

  1. Nia Dennis, Westerville, Ohio, 29.600
  2. Ragan Smith, Lewisville, Texas, 29.150
  3. Jordan Chiles, Vancouver, Wash. and Victoria Nguyen, West Des Moines, Iowa, 28.750

2014 Secret U.S. Classics Juniors to Watch (Sr. session)

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In the gymnastics world, the Olympics trump all. And though we have an eye on who’s who in 2014, there is always equally an eye on who WILL be who in 2016. And so this year, watching the juniors who will be possible contenders for the 2016 Olympics is as important as watching the senior contenders for this year’s World Championship team.

Due to the large number of juniors entered in the Secret U.S. Classics, a handful of 2016 age eligible gymnasts have been “promoted” to compete in the senior session. Nia Dennis of Buckeye Gymnastics, Norah Flatley of Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute, Jazmyn Foberg of MG Elite, Lauren Navarro of Charter Oak Gymnastics, Abby Paulson and Olivia Trautman of Twin City Twisters, Emily Gaskins of Cincinnati Gymnastics, and Ragan Smith of Texas Dreams Gymnastics will all be making their senior debut of sorts early, though they will be competing for the junior titles.

With the absence of 2013 Junior National Champion Bailie Key and 2013 Junior All-around Silver Medalist Laurie Hernandez as well as 2013 Junior National Vault Champion Ari Agrapides from the roster, there is a lot of room for these juniors to make their mark at this competition. Dennis, Flatley, Gaskins and Smith are current U.S. Junior National Team members and have all had international assignments this year. Each one has performed well, and there is no doubt that there are high expectations for them this year.

Dennis placed fourth in the all-around at last year’s national championships, second at the City of Jesolo and second at the Pacific Rims Championships this year (to Key both times). She is known for her powerful tumbling, high release moves on bars, and what is possibly the best arabian on beam in the world. With Key and Hernandez out of the competition, Dennis is statistically the one to beat, and a strong contender for the all-around gold. Here she is training bars.

Flatley is a gymternet favorite, followed for many years for her incredible beam work and her uncanny resemblance to Shawn Johnson in technique and personality. Placing fifth at last years nationals, and third in the City of Jesolo and the Pacific Rims Championships (just behind Dennis both times), Flatley is a strong contender as well for the all-around title. Flatley is widely regarded as Chow’s next superstar (Chow coached Shawn Johnson to an all-around Olympic silver and Olympic beam gold as well as coached Gabby Douglas to an all-around Olympic gold). She will be a senior in 2016 and in addition to her potential as an all-arounder, she is also continuing to make a case for herself as a bars/beam specialist for the future, with definite potential to win an world or Olympic medal on the beam. Here she is at the Pacific Rim Championships on beam.

Gaskins placed 18th in last year’s national championships, but since moving to Cincinnati Gymnastics has been steadily moving up. She was given an international assignment earlier this year to the City of Jesolo, where she place fifth in the all-around. Known for her clean lines and beautiful form with that “international look”, Gaskins has so much potential to really be a major contender not only this year, but in the next few years. Here she is at the May National Training Camp.

Smith placed 17th at the national championships last year. However, she has recently made a gym change to Texas Dreams, the current US powerhouse of elite level gymnastics. The change seems to be agreeing well with her, as she secured a place on the national team and an assignment to the City of Jesolo this year where she placed ninth in the all-around (and sixth amongst the US gymnasts). Smith is full of talent and drive, with that pixie cute look that always wins hearts in the junior ranks. She will be one to watch for sure! Check her out at the May National Team Training Camp.

Foberg continues to strengthen the bench of MG Elite as their third high caliber junior elite gymnast. Last year she seemed to lag far behind celebrated teammates Hernandez and Agrapides. But in recent months she won the all-around at American Classics, as well as 1st on vault and bars. She also finished 4th at the last National Team Camp (only .35 out of 2nd). Classics could very well be where she makes her debut and joins the ranks of her teammates as one of the USA’s top juniors. Go to the MG Elite Facebook page and scroll down to see some of Foberg’s latest work.

Navarro, Paulson and Trautman all have yet to prove their status in the junior elite world. However, they must have done well enough at national camps to be included on the senior session. It will be exciting to see how they fair!

 

 

 

The 2014 City of Jesolo Trophy Teams Announced

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USA Gymnastics just announced the junior and senior gymnasts representing the USA at the 2014 City of Jesolo Trophy. The announcement was made from the USA Gymnastics National Team Training Center at the Karolyi Ranch at the conclusion of the March National Team selection camp.

The senior team will be headlined by Kyla Ross, the youngest member of the 2012 Fierce Five Olympic Gold team and 2013 World all around silver medalist. She is the only team member that has been to a world championship or Olympic games before and this will be her fifth time competing at this meet. Joining her are seven other seniors, including six who have competed in the City of Jesolo Trophy competition in previous years.

Peyton Ernst and Maggie Nichols competed on the 2013 team, MyKayla Skinner and Madison Desch were on the 2012 team and Madison Kocian competed in 2011. Alyssa Bowman and Rachel Gowey round out the team as international “rookies”, with no previous experience as an elite gymnast in international competition. This assignment also marks Gowey’s addition to the Senior National Team.

2013 U.S. junior all-around national champion Bailie Key headlines the juniors. This will be Key’s third time representing the USA at this meet and she competed at four other international meets last year. None of the five other juniors joining her have competed at this competition previously, and only two of others, Nia Dennis and Emily Gaskins, have competed internationally before. Gaskins represented the USA at the Junior Mexican Cup in 2013, while Dennis competed in England back in 2011, though she was not representing the USA nationally.  This will be Norah Flatley, Jordan Chiles and Ragan Smith’s international debut. Chiles and Smith were both officially added to the junior national team with this assignment.

The City of Jesolo Trophy will be held in Venice, Italy on March 22-23. The seventh installment of this competition will feature gymnasts from USA, Australia, Japan, Romania, and Italy. There will be a team, all-around and event finals competition in both the junior and senior divisions. March 22nd will be the team and all-around competitions. Results from the first day will qualify gymnasts to event finals on the 23rd.

According to USA Gymnastics, National Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi said “This competition a great training ground for the upcoming Pacific Alliance Championships and World Championships.”  As the selections for gymnasts representing the USA at the Pacific Rims Gymnastics Championship and the Tokyo World Cup are to be announced later in the month, it can also be inferred that the performance of the gymnasts in Venice will help determine that selection.

The complete roster is listed below.

Seniors
Alyssa Baumann, Plano, Texas/WOGA
Madison Desch, Lenexa, Kan./Great American Gymnastics Express
Peyton Ernst, Coppell, Texas/Texas Dreams Gymnastics
Rachel Gowey, Urbandale, Iowa/Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute
Madison Kocian, Dallas, Texas/WOGA
Maggie Nichols, Little Canada, Minn./Twin City Twisters
Kyla Ross, Aliso Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max
Mykayla Skinner, Gilbert, Ariz./Desert Lights Gymnastics

Juniors
Jordan Chiles, Vancouver, Wash./Naydenov Gymnastics
Nia Dennis, Westerville, Ohio/Buckeye Gymnastics
Norah Flatley, Cumming, Iowa/Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute
Emily Gaskins, Coral Springs, Fla./Cincinnati Gymnastics
Bailie Key, Coppell, Texas/Texas Dreams Gymnastics
Ragan Smith, Dacula, Ga./Texas Dreams Gymnastics